NBA Roundup : Wilkins Leads Hawks Past Pistons, 101-99

After winning the scoring championship last season to erase any doubt that he was one of the outstanding players in the National Basketball Assn., Dominique Wilkins had a new goal this season: To lead the Atlanta Hawks to a division title.

Friday night at Atlanta, the Hawks were trailing Detroit by 10 points going into the final quarter when Wilkins took charge. He scored 22 points in the final 12 minutes, including three clutch free throws in the last eight seconds to give the Hawks a 101-99 victory.

The Hawks, who last won the Central Division in 1980, lead the Pistons by four games and have only five games left.

Wilkins failed to score in the first quarter. “But by the fourth period, I had my confidence back,” he said. “And when I stepped up to the free-throw line in the closing seconds, I said, ‘Nique, there’s no way you can miss these.’ ”

Isiah Thomas, who had a big night for the Pistons, missed a jumper with two seconds left. Until then, he was 16 for 26 and had 36 points and 11 assists.

Suddenly, the Hawks are looking past a division title. With the Boston Celtics in a slump, the Hawks have a chance for the best record in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Celtics by 1 1/2 games and the teams meet April 19 at Boston in the final game of the regular season.

Milwaukee 132, New York 93--It wasn’t an impressive return and his team was routed, but there was Bernard King, in action for the first time in more than two years.

Playing on a reconstructed knee that had sidelined him since he was injured in 1985, King made only one of his first six shots and only 2 of 8 in the 23 minutes he played.

He was given a standing ovation before the game and again when he entered with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

New Jersey 117, Boston 108--Playing without center Robert Parish for the second game in a row, the Celtic ironmen lost again at East Rutherford, N.J.

Orlando Wooridge had 30 points, and Mike Gminski had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the lowly Nets handed the Celtics their third loss in a row. Not since November 1983 had they lost three in a row.

Danny Ainge, who had a big game, scoring 32 points, cited injuries as the most obvious reason for the skid.

“We are struggling now,” he said, “But we were not outhustled. They just outplayed us. Robert (Parish), D.J. (Dennis Johnson) and Kevin (McHale) are not 100% right now. Bill Walton hasn’t played for 12 games. It’s tough to win.”

The supposedly ailing Johnson played 35 minutes, McHale 45?

Philadelphia 98, Chicago 96--Maurice Cheeks, returning after missing three weeks with a finger injury, hit a foul-line jumper with two seconds left in overtime at Philadelphia to beat the Bulls. Michael Jordan, who finished with 34 points, made two free throws with four seconds left in regulation to force the overtime.

Utah 106, Denver 103--Rickey Green scored four points in the final 19 seconds at Salt Lake City to bring the Jazz from behind.

With Denver losing, despite Alex English’s 31 points, the Phoenix Suns’ playoff hopes remained alive. In the bid for the final spot in the West, Denver leads by 2 1/2 games. The Nuggets have four games remaining, two with Houston, while Phoenix has five left, including one with the Lakers.